Body Parts
by Shimy
Summary: A one-shot that was inspired - I insist, inspired - by that second sneak-peek for episode 7x05. I suppose you could consider it as speculation, although it most probably won't turn out that way. Body parts. Sausages. What next? Rated T for some strong language.


**Author's note: Hey guys! So this is a random one-shot that was inspired by that second sneak-peek for episode 7x05 (Meme is Murder).  
>Well, actually the idea for this text has been sitting in a corner of my mind for about a year -no, seriously! - but I never found a way - more like a plot - to write it down up until now. The sneak-peek provided me with that opportunity that I grabbed with both hands.<br>However, I think I can say this is absolutely not the way the episode will turn out ot be.  
>As a reminder, English is my third language and I am my own editor, so please feel free to mention any mistake that you might spot.<br>Also, I don't own Castle and blah, blah, blah.**

**I hope you enjoy your reading! =D**

* * *

><p><strong>BODY PARTS<br>**

* * *

><p>Body parts. That was what first showed up on the computer screen.<p>

Sausages. That was what replaced the body parts on said screen.

Fingers. That was what they found next to the second victim's body. The ten digits had been cleanly cut off.

A hat. That was the most recent photograph the killer had sent them through social networks.

Coffee and a bear-claw. That was what Castle had gone looking for while Kate Beckett was busy chewing everyone's head off – except her captain's. When the lead detective quite literally slammed her phone back down, Detective Javier Esposito chose to conveniently ignore the way he almost jumped out of his skin.

"It's been two days! Two freaking days and we haven't got _any_ idea where this _lowlife piece of shit_ is hiding and where he's going to strike next!"

"Uh, actually, Beckett" Ryan piped in slowly, having now hung up his own phone, "he's already stricken again."

"What?!"

"Homeless guy found another body up in SoHo."

Kate could feel how terrible her upcoming headache was going to be. Closing her eyes for a second, she pinched her sinuses and took a deep breath.

"Okay. Let's go."

When they arrived on the crime scene and spotted the same hat they had been shown a picture of next to the victim's now covered body, they knew.

Ignoring the shiver that ran up her spine, Kate squared her shoulder, crouched down to the body's level and lifted the white and blood red blanket.

It was – again – a neat cut.

She needed a second to grit her teeth together.

The man had been beheaded.

* * *

><p>"Another one?" asked Castle, while handing his fiancée her trademark grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla before she decided to murder someone – preferably not him – herself.<p>

"Yeah. Thanks, babe."

"You're welcome. Anything I missed?"

"This guy was found in SoHo, next to a couple of bins. According to Perlmutter, he was killed yesterday. No I.D. yet, but there are a couple of things that indicate all three victims have been killed by the same person."

"Things like what?"

"Things like that stupid hat he sent us a picture of! We found an identical replica next to the body."

The sharp intake of breath Castle took made Kate look up at him more closely. "What is it, Castle?"

"Let me guess – he was beheaded, wasn't he?"

"Yes, but how did you -

"There's been another victim?!" came the unyielding, unmistakable voice of Captain Gates as she determinedly strode along to where her lead detective and her partner were.

"I'm afraid so, sir. The MO looks similar. Whoever this killer is, he or she apparently enjoys cutting body parts off. The second victim was missing her fingers and the third was missing his head."

Captain Gates had the good grace to look slightly disgusted at the idea.

"What he seems to enjoy even more," Castle interjected, "is to taunt the police and let the NYPD know _in advance_ what body part exactly he is going to cut off."

"What are you saying, Mister Castle?"

Kate watched in attentive silence as her fiancé walked over to the whiteboard and pointed at the different photographs they had been sent throughout the course of the case.

"Body parts in general. He was telling us about his - let's say his particular taste for cutting them off. The sausages? He used them to represent fingers, the body part that our second victim was –_is_ missing. And considering that our third victim was beheaded, I would bet the hat we were shown a picture of –

"Was supposed to tell us what body part he would be cutting off next." Beckett finished for him.

"Then you'd better make sure you catch this bastard before he kills someone else, detective."

"Yes, sir."

"Yo, Beckett!" The three of them spun around as one to watch as Esposito motioned for them to come closer to his desk. "Bastard sent us a new pic!"

They all crossed the space in less time than they needed to say "murder" only to be faced with a photograph of a pair of scissors that were set close to a white orchid. Next to the photograph was a message.

_I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one, NYPD. But don't worry – I'm not a monster. He'll die quickly._

Only Castle had the forethought to step aside from Captain Gates before she started shouting.

"**Find wherever that message came from! I want that son of a bitch in custody by the end of the day!"**

About twenty minutes later, with still no solid leads to follow and quite sore ears, all eyes turned to Ryan's phone as its shrill tone began to ring. The Irish detective gulped once before picking up. The silence that fell upon the group of four could only be described as deafening. When he hung up, Ryan only had to nod once to confirm what they already knew.

Yet another body had been found.

"Alright, I'm going!" Esposito announced whilst he grabbed his coat, secured his gun in his holster and made for the elevator just as Castle's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Sito, wait!"

"What do you want, Castle?"

"Uh, maybe you should let someone else go there because –

"Because what? You think I'm scared of that asshole?"

"What? No, of course not! It's just that –

"Listen, Castle. I'm a cop. Former special forces. Now I'm gonna go there whether you like it or not, got it?"

"…Fine." The older man replied in a much colder manner, and if Esposito had listened with a bit more attention, he would have detected the slight hurt in the writer's voice. "But when you come back, don't say I didn't try to warn you."

Once the Hispanic detective had effectively gone, and once Ryan had joined him but not after having thrown a rather contrite look in the writer's direction, muttering something that sounded like "Sorry. Don't mind him.", Castle walked back to Kate's desk and sat down in his chair. She looked at him in a slightly concerned way as he took his phone out of his pocket and started a new game of Angry Birds.

"Are you okay, babe?"

"Mmm."

"Is that a good 'Mmm' or a bad one?"

He stopped playing and looked up at her. "Esposito still thinks I abandoned you on our wedding day, doesn't he?"

"Oh, Castle. No, no, I don't think he still thinks that. But you know how he is – always looking out for me and –

"And never trusting me completely."

Kate did not reply. She knew her fiancé was somewhat right.

"Don't worry. I'm not asking you to take sides – it'd be very unfair to you. I guess – I guess I'm just a little bit sad about the fact that my own friendship with Esposito depends almost entirely on the friendship – brotherhood – that you guys have. And he kind of snapped at me for no reason when all I wanted to do was to warn him."

Now that caught Kate's interest. "Warn him? About what?"

"About what he's going to find where that fourth body is."

"Well, he's a homicide detective. We've all seen pretty much gruesome things before."

"Yeah, but maybe not as far as orchids are concerned."

"What do you mean?"

"That photograph we got, with the orchid and the scissors? Like I said before, the killer was telling us what body part he was going to cut off."

Kate allowed herself a small huff of laughter. "The sausages and the fingers fit together, I can give you that. The hat and the head, well, yes, okay, I can see the link there too. But an orchid, Castle? What body part could that possibly be?"

"Man parts."

To say that Kate's jaw dropped to the ground could almost have been an understatement.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The word 'orchid' comes from the Ancient Greek word _orchis. _And in Ancient Greek, _orchis_ literally means 'testicle'. We attribute the terminology to the Greek philosopher Theophrastus. Apparently he thought that the shape of the twin tubers in some species of orchids resembled that of, well, testicles. Man parts. Balls, if you prefer. Or –

"Thank you, Castle, I think I got it."

"Yeah, sorry."

"…"

"…"

"Eww."

"I know!"

* * *

><p>Needless to say, when the two male detectives came back to the precinct a little while later, Ryan looked as pale as a ghost. As for Esposito, he looked like he was about to throw up.<p>

And of course Castle couldn't resist.

"Ah! See? Told ya!"


End file.
